MEGradedExercises2014

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Click these links for summaries of all Graded Exercises for the study guide...

ME1: PowerUp Game

1. The PowerUp Simulation asks you to choose power plants for a city, considering their cost and environmental impact, as well as how much power they produce. Keep trying until you get a successful combination of power plants, and upload a screenshot showing that you reached your goal.
2. Describe the most difficult choice you had to make, and how you decided which power plant to choose.

ME2: PowerUp Data

1. Visit PowerUp Data Exercise on Quia to try a Quia exercise using data from the PowerUp simulation. Keep at it until you earn a perfect score.
2. Figure out a way to reach the PowerUp goals using the spreadsheet linked here: PowerUp Spreadsheet on GoogleDrive . When you reach the PowerUp goals on the "How Many" tab, take a screenshot of your solution, and upload it here.
3. Explain how you made your choices for Question 2, and why you think this is a good overall plan for a city.

ME3: Balance Exercise

1. Take a screenshot of the Quia page showing your perfect score for the

• Balance Exercise on Quia (CP) , and upload it here.
• Balance Exercise on Quia (H) , and upload it here.

1. Explain how the numbering of the pegs gives you a mathematical method for deciding if it balances.

ME4: Lever the Obelisk

1. Lever the Obelisk with the fulcrum in the left-most position. When you succeed, take a screenshot (command/shift/4) and upload it here.
2. Lever the Obelisk with the fulcrum in the middle position. When you succeed, take a screenshot (command/shift/4) and upload it here.
3. Lever the Obelisk with the fulcrum in the right-most position. When you succeed, take a screenshot (command/shift/4) and upload it here.
4. Study your screenshots, and explain what "Force-Distance Tradeoff" means in this exercise.

ME5: Mechanical Advantage

1. Upload a screenshot of the tongs with the following annotations:

• location of the fulcrum;
• location of the input force;
• location of the output force;
• ratio showing the input distance/output distance;
• the tong's mechanical advantage

1. Upload a screenshot of the test-tube clamp with the following annotations:

• location of the fulcrum;
• location of the input force;
• location of the output force;
• ratio showing the input distance/output distance;
• the tweezer's mechanical advantage

1. Explain why some machines have a mechanical advantage larger than one and some have a mechanical advantage lower than one.

ME6: Mousetrap

Follow this link to the Mousetrap Puzzle and put the pieces in an order that would trap the mouse when it pulls on the cheese and supplies the "activation energy". Upload the screenshot here.

1. Find a block in the Mousetrap Puzzle that shows a form of STORED ENERGY being activated. Draw a circle around the source of the STORED ENERGY, and an arrow showing how the ACTIVATION ENERGY releases it.
2. Find a block in the Mousetrap Puzzle that shows a device that TRANSFERS ENERGY from one spot to another. Draw arrows to show where the INPUT FORCE is applied and where the OUTPUT FORCE Is produced.
3. Give examples of two devices in your home: one that TRANSFERS energy without adding any new energy, and one that ACTIVATES energy that has been stored.

ME7: Leverage of Tools

1. Click this link to get to the Quia quiz . When you get a perfect score, screenshot the "success screen" and upload it here.
2. Give an example showing how the same tool could have two different mechanical advantages, depending on how you use it!

ME8: Gears

1. Visit this Gears Exercise on Quia (H) , or this Gears Exercise on Quia (CP) , earn a perfect score, and upload a screenshot of your "Success Screen" here!
2. Visit this Gear Chooser Simulation , and adjust the gears to produce the combination with the greatest speed multiplier.

• Annotate the image with a value of the speed multiplier.
• Take a screenshot, and upload the image here.

1. Visit this Gear Chooser Simulation , and adjust the gears to produce the combination that would be the best "Ultra Hill Climber."

• Take a screenshot, and upload the image here.

1. With levers, we said that you cannot increase your output energy, but you can produce a Force-Distance Tradeoff. How does this idea apply to gear combinations?

ME9: Simple Machines

1. Visit this website (Simple Machine Sim ) to build a virtual treehouse. Upload your picture of the treehouse here!
2. Visit this link (ME9: Six Simple Machines ) to find the Quia questions, and upload your "success screen" here.
3. What is the general rule for finding the mechanical advantage of any simple machine?